


The Nights

by rapunzelzz



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Disney Princesses, Rapunzel (Fairy Tale), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Sleep Paralysis, night horrors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26495386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapunzelzz/pseuds/rapunzelzz
Summary: A series of one-shots about how things unfolded once they were alone and could openly talk about things that happened during the day. Mostly trying to calm each other down after particularly stressful days, starting with their first night at the castle.Warning: The first chapter includes depictions of sleep paralysis and night horrors.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	The Nights

Guilt

The castle was silent, not a single sound could be heard from its infinite halls and corridors. The occasional yawn from either one of the guards at my door were the only disruptors of the complete and stifling stillness surrounding me.

Pascal was fast asleep next to me on the pillow, he had fallen into slumber almost immediately after dinner, after all it had been an exciting and tiring day, filled with quite an extense array of emotions; from complete and utter happiness, to the darkest and most ghastly feelings I had ever felt in my entire life.

I stared at the ceiling, where the canopy merged with the darkness of the room, and shuffled my fingers in the sheet fabric, trying to get used to the new silky material my skin was most definitely not accustomed to. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to take it all in, forcing myself to stop the million thoughts in my mind and just adapt to the new environment, but it was no use. I let out a sigh, the excitement and happiness I had been feeling during the day slowly melting away, leaving me alone with my never-ending wonderment, as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened, and how in just a few hours my life had made such a huge turn.

I shuffled in bed, trying to find comfort in another position, but I just couldn’t. The bed was too big, it felt too big. I wasn’t used to having that much space, I felt like a little girl with too much space on my sides. Everything felt big, in fact, the entire room was almost bigger than the tower, and it had been expecting me for 18 years, tightly and daily taken care of by the castle staff, making sure everything was ready for my imminent return, because if my parents had done one thing in almost two decades, was refusing to give up hope, the one thing they didn’t allow themselves, surrender. The room had been waiting patiently for me, just like they had.

And it was, all in all, a very nice room, with its high ceilings and huge windows. I would be lying if I wasn’t excited on the prospect of having an enormous balcony where I could have breakfast in and where I could dance around in the rain, finally checking that off my endless bucket list. However, I couldn’t help but feel small in it, just like the bed. I wasn’t used to the silence; I wasn’t used to the blank walls; it all made me uneasy. I missed the sound of water running, helping me fall asleep each night. I missed the sounds of the forest. And most of all, I missed my hair, I wanted to curl myself up in it, hoping to find some false sense of comfort there. But it was gone, and so was the tower, and so was mother. I shook my head, pushing the thought aside.

“Gothel” I murmured softly “Not mother, just Gothel”

It’d be difficult, no question, having to unlearn so many things about the world and about myself, things that had been fed up to me my entire life as absolute truths. But I had to start somewhere, and her name would be first.

It was double the work, having to learn and unlearn so much at the same time; I was certain my head would implode with the infinite amounts of new information I so desperately wanted to grasp and absorb, either that or the stress would do it. But I would have to take it all one day at a time, I couldn’t possibly learn everything in one day, just like it was impossible for me to adapt to my new room in only one night. I caught myself yawning in the middle of my thoughts, which prompted me to close my eyes, hoping to finally fall into slumber.

However, a few minutes later, an unsettling feeling made me open them again. I kept still in my bed, trying to decipher whether I was dreaming or not, as the ominous feeling of being watched took over my entire body. I couldn’t move, I was frozen in place, but my eyes frantically searched the place, looking for the source of my distress. There was no one to my right side other than Pascal, softly puffing out air having, no doubts, a pleasant dream. And as I turned my sight to look on my left, I saw her at the foot of the bed. She was standing there in silence, watching me. Her big, grey eyes staring at me with what could only be described as contrition, a frown on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks, her black cloak covering her body, falling to the ground, making her look like an angel of death, ready to take me with her.

It was a harrowing sight, I tried to scream but my mouth wouldn’t open. I tried to shake my head, move my arms, kick the covers off myself, but I was tied to my bed, the mattress slowly but surely devouring my figure.

“How could you do it?” she asked, moaning in pain “How could you do this to your poor mother?”

I kept trying to scream, to alarm the guards so they would step in and take her away, but no sound would leave my throat. I wanted to run away, but the silk sheets were tangling themselves in my legs, slowly pulling me, trying to drown me.

“How could you be so cruel? I told you to stay inside!” she kept crying, her shrill voice deafening me with her screams “Now I’m dead and it’s all your fault!”

I wanted to fight it, I wanted to close my eyes and put her out of my mind, maybe if I ignored her she would leave me alone, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, her gaze locked in mine, sending shivers down my spine.

“It’s all your fault! You let me die! You let him die! You selfish girl! He is dead because of you!”

The image of Eugene dead on the floor of the tower took hold of my mind, his last words resounding in my head, blending with her screams as she continued screeching and crying, getting more violent by the second, losing her temper and shouting like a maniac, trying to make me lose my mind.

“I will never forgive you! You don’t deserve forgiveness!” she shouted out of control, still standing in the same place, as if she couldn’t move either. Her eyes, haunting and full of madness, as her mouth moved screaming every possible horror imaginable, turning me insane in return. Her screams kept getting louder and louder, as I fought with all my might for one tiny movement out of my body, just one small action to help me realize I wasn’t really being held prisoner by my own bed. And just as she was reaching her most strident and deafening screech, one of my fingers tingled, thus awakening my entire hand and arm with it.

I opened my eyes and let out a scream. I was lying on my back, my arms next to my head, completely numb. My chest rising and falling rapidly, as I stared into the dark ceiling. I moved my legs in an attempt to free them from the silk surrounding them, and slowly brought my numb hands to my face, coming to the realization that it had only been a nightmare. A horrid, and vivid nightmare. I stared at the foot of the bed, but no one was there, and the creepy feeling of being watched was completely gone.

I was trying to calm myself down when Pascal climbed on my chest, surely awoken by my awful scream. I put a hand in front of him to help him climb and sat on the bed, still heaving and puffing, completely covered in sweat, the sheets around me damp and sticky, my short hair glued to my neck. Pascal gave me a worried look, as I burst into tears. He climbed on my shoulder, trying to comfort me leaning against my cheek, but it was no use. I brought my hands to my face again and broke down completely, softly rocking myself to find some comfort, but nothing worked. I sat there sobbing for a few minutes, blaming myself for everything, buying into every word she had muttered, feeling complete and utter guilt. She was dead and it was my fault, Eugene had died and it was my fault. It was a miracle that he had come back, but he shouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself for me, I didn’t deserve that kind of love, who would let the people that love them do such a thing? I had to apologize to him, I had to ask for his forgiveness, I couldn’t live with that guilt consuming me inside.

“Pascal, I need to see Eugene” I said as he climbed on one of my hands, his eyes still full of concern. “I need you to cause a distraction so that the guards will leave their post a few minutes” I told him, tears streaming down my face. He nodded dutifully and quickly made his way out of the room.

I stood up, straightened my nightgown, ran a hand through my damp hair and made my way towards the door, pressing my face against it, listening intently for the guards to move. Suddenly, I heard a loud crash from the other end of the corridor, and the young men instantly walking towards it. I seized my opportunity and opened the door, running in the direction of the stairs.

It was a long way down from the highest tower in the castle to Eugene’s bedroom somewhere on the ground floor, near the kitchens, but I was determined to get there or get caught trying. It didn’t help that I barely even knew the castle, having had only one tour of it during the course of the day. Pascal quickly caught up with me, thou I can’t imagine how he found me so quickly, maybe I was running in circles.

A few minutes passed, as I took three wrong turns and almost got caught by the royal advisor Nigel, who was coming from the kitchens with a glass of water, when I finally found Eugene’s door. I stared at it from the corner, because two more guards were standing in the corridor, keeping watch of it. I sighed, of course he would be under scrutiny, no matter how nice my parents had been to him. Surely the captain of the guards had sent them there, to keep an eye on him. I gave one look at Pascal, but he was faster than me, already camouflaging himself to get to the other side of the corridor, ready to cause another diversion so that I could walk into Eugene’s room.

I didn’t have to wait long because a few seconds later, another loud crash was heard somewhere near and the guards ran towards it, ready to fulfill their duty. Once again, I took my chance and crossed the hallway, quickly opening the door and closing it behind me. Eugene jumped on his bed, startled by my unexpected entrance.

“I’ll leave, don’t worry, there’s no need to grab me, I’ll leave!” he said sleepily, his eyes barely even open as he got up from the bed, reaching for his boots.

“Leave!?” I asked concerned looking at him “Where are you going? Why are you leaving!?” My voice faltering, as my breathing started to increase once again, my chest violently rising and falling.

“Rapunzel?” he said stopping abruptly, bringing his hands to his eyes, trying to scratch the sleepiness away “What are you doing here?”

“Why are you leaving!?” I mournfully said as I walked towards him and hugged his figure, breaking down yet again on the same night. He put his arms around me, hugging me tightly, making everything feel a little bit better for a few seconds.

“I am not going anywhere, don’t worry” he murmured as he laid his head on mine. I had mine pressed against his chest, feeling every vibration in his body as the words left his mouth, listening to his heartbeat.

“Then why did you say you were?” I asked, my voice a bit steadier this time.

“I thought it was the captain coming to kick me out” he said chuckling softly. I pulled away to look at him, the room was dark but the moonlight shone through his window, softly illuminating our surroundings.

“But you were pardoned, and my parents allowed you to stay here” I said grabbing his hands, entwining his fingers with mine.

“Yeah well… Kings can change their minds” he replied softly, with a small smile on his face before continuing “What are you doing here? How did you get here? I’m pretty sure there’s two robust guys waiting outside that door”

“Pascal helped me,” I answered making my way to his bed, sitting on its edge “And I had a nightmare” I put my hands on my lap, fidgeting with my fingers.

“Oh, I’m sorry” he said as he made his way to the bed, sitting next to me. “Was it bad?” I slowly nodded, hugging my figure, ready for yet another outburst of tears.

“Eugene, I am so sorry” I murmured, trying to keep my body from shaking violently, but no matter how hard I fought, it still convulsed with sadness. Eugene put his arms around me, his head on mine again, softly rocking me, comforting me, but it barely worked.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked intrigued “You haven’t done anything wrong” he reassured me, trying to make me feel better.

“But I have! I have done horrible things, I let you die for me! And she died too, and it’s all my fault!” I couldn’t hold it in anymore, the guilt flooding all over my body like a sickness “Please forgive me, I am so sorry!” I kept crying in his arms, waiting for him to push me aside, to tell me that forgiveness didn’t come that easy.

“What are you talking about?” He said running his hand up and down my arm, still trying to make me feel better “Rapunzel, you’re not making any sense” he said softly, laughing a little. I stopped my sobbing session for a second to stare at him.

“But I am, I shouldn’t have let you die!” I grabbed one of his hands and moved it gently, in a stupid attempt to make him understand.

“Rapunzel, first of all you didn’t let me die, I am here, am I not?” he said still smiling up at me, brushing a tear off my face with his free hand.

“You know what I mean, and it’s a miracle that you are here!” I replied mournfully, I had to make him understand.

“I know that, Sunshine” he whispered as he left a kiss on my forehead, making my body tingle with an entirely different kind of feeling, making me smile for the first time that night “but I chose to die for you, you didn’t let me die. I knew what would happen when I cut your hair” he said putting a hand on my chin, bringing my gaze up to look at him. “That’s not your fault”

I stared at him, tears already threatening to fall once again like a waterfall. He didn’t understand, I had to make him understand.

“But you shouldn’t have done that for me. I don’t deserve it, why would you do something like that?” tears spilling on my nightgown.

“Woah, woah, woah!” he answered chuckling a little again, was he laughing at my misery? “Weren’t you about to give away your freedom in order to save me?” he said leaning in closer to my face with a soft smile on his face.

“Yes, but it’s different, I wouldn’t have died!” I told him adamant, he clearly did not understand my point.

“Is it, though?” he asked, still smiling but with a resolute look in his eyes “Isn’t giving away your freedom a bit like dying?”

“Eugene, you kno-” but he interrupted me before I could continue.

“And why would you do that? Why would you give away your freedom to save me?”

“Well, because I lov-” I stopped in my tracks, suddenly realizing the point he was trying to make “Because I love you” I said smiling softly at him, brushing away a few tears on my cheeks.

“Ah, there it is” he said smiling brightly, grabbing both my hands, softly caressing them. His smile slowly disappearing as he added “It’s not your fault that I died” he leaned his head into mine, our foreheads touching “I gave away my life because I love you too”

I couldn’t hold myself any longer and threw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly and climbing into his lap, keeping him in place. He hugged me as well, slowly caressing my back with his hands, making me feel safe again. He made it all so simple and easy to understand, we both had given something up for the other on that fateful morning, for love. We stayed there for a while, enjoying the warm embrace, grateful to be together, almost falling asleep in each other’s arms.

“But wait a minute!” he said as he scooped me onto his lap, my back leaning against one of his arms, he looked at me a bit confused “What does any of that have to do with your nightmare?” I took a deep breath, getting ready to relive the awful experience once again as I told him.

“She was there,” sadness took over my voice “manipulating me as always. She told me all sorts of things, she called me selfish for letting you die… for letting her die too” He pushed a strand of hair out of my face and looked at me softly.

“None of that is your fault” was all he said, before grabbing one of my hands and planting a kiss on it “In fact, I didn’t know cutting your hair would… you know” he added after, I nodded slowly.

“It’s not your fault either, you were just trying to save me” I told him, intertwining our fingers together, he nodded slowly. “But it’s difficult for me not to believe her, even now that I know the truth about everything… She still creeps up on me, filling me with doubts and fears” he kept looking at me, running his thumb over my knuckles, listening attentively, waiting for me to finish.

“It’s not going to be easy” he finally replied “getting used to everything that’s changing, and it’s normal to have awful nightmares when bad things happen” he leaned in and planted yet another kiss on my forehead, tingling and excitement taking over my body, bringing life back to my limbs “but you always have to remember that a nightmare is just your mind playing a trick on you”

“Really?” I asked him intrigued, I didn’t know much about anything, so this was brand new information to absorb “But why was it so vivid? It felt so real, I couldn’t even move!”

“Yeah, well, some nightmares are worse than others, and it’s been a stressful few days, so they are bound to creep on you right now, you just need to know you are stronger than them”

“And does it work? Being stronger than them?” I was genuinely curious about the matter, was there a way to beat such horrors?

“Well, yeah, if you tell them” he said laughing “They go away as soon as you stand up for yourself and show them who’s boss, Sunshine”

I kept looking at him, a little starstruck because he knew so much about so many things. I couldn’t wait to learn more about nightmares and dreams, and in what way did dreams when you are sleeping differ to dreams when you are awake, was there really a difference? And what about dreams so beautiful you couldn’t believe they could come true? Was there a book on that? Because I kept looking at him and I was having a hard time believing he was real.

“Sunshine” I whispered under my breath, but loud enough so he could hear me “Why sunshine?”

“You don’t like it?” he asked laughing softly as I smiled up at him.

“No, I love it” I replied honestly, “I was just curious as to why you chose it”

“Because you are my sunshine” he replied simply, making me smile even brighter. I felt so light all of a sudden, being scooped up in his arms and talking to him felt like a balm to my soul. All sadness, guilt and fear had melted away, and in their place, I felt safe, loved and happy. Soon enough, that safe feeling relaxed my tired muscles and a yawn escaped my mouth, my eyes slowly starting to give up, finally giving way to slumber.

“I don’t know if sleeping here is the best decision, Sunshine” he said before I completely surrendered in his arms.

“Why not?” I asked turning a little in his embrace, ready to lose consciousness.

“Well, there’s rules about these sorts of things. We shouldn’t sleep in the same bed”

“Never!?” I asked, a bit more awake now, concerned about this unpleasant turn of events.

“It’s a bit difficult to explain right now, maybe tomorrow, but it would be better for the both of us if you went back to your room”

I thought for a moment about my options, I truly did not want to climb all of those stairs, and the thought of entering my huge and cold bed right now was truly disheartening. I looked for Pascal who was asleep on Eugene’s night stand, he had probably crept up on us when I was crying, and I didn’t want to wake him up to distract the guards again, so I came up with a better plan.

“And what if I spend the night here with Pascal, and in the early morning, before anyone else is out of bed I wake Pascal up and we go upstairs?” Eugene gave me an unconvinced look, but he clearly understood that I wasn’t backing down.

“Alright, but if you father kicks me out, now **_that_** ’ll be your fault” he replied as he pulled away the covers and helped me under them. Soon enough he lay down next to me, putting his arms around me, keeping me safe and sound. I put my head on his chest, and fell asleep listening to his heartbeat. No nightmare would even dare getting close to such bliss.

* * *

I woke up in a halt a few hours later as the guards opened up the doors and shouted _‘The Princess is here’_ to someone behind them. I hadn’t woken up in time to get back to my room, and it was clearly light out already. I couldn’t feel Eugene sleeping next to me, but I was so tired I couldn’t move from my position in bed to look for him; the guards would have to carry me all the way up to my bedroom because there was no chance I was walking up there on my own.

My parents walked in with a look of relief in their eyes, and I felt a small tug on my left hand, which was hanging from the bed. I moved a little to see who was pulling on my fingers, maybe Pascal was trying to get me to wake up, when I saw Eugene holding on to my hand, our fingers intertwined, as he clumsily tried to keep his eyes open, still exhausted from our late-night talk. I smiled brightly and I closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep again.

I couldn’t remember being carried up to my room, but at lunch my parents had told me that it had to be done because they just couldn’t let poor Eugene keep sleeping on the floor. I took that as an opportunity to explain the situation, so before they could even ask me, I explained everything to them. From the horrid nightmare, my escape to Eugene’s room, how he had been able to calm me down, and my refusal to go back upstairs, telling them that it was all my fault and I that I would take full responsibility for any consequences, begging them not to punish Eugene for my misconduct. They simply smiled at me and thanked me for my honesty, telling me not to worry about anything.

Later on, my father asked Eugene to join him in his daily walk around the gardens, and I don’t know what he told my dad or how it happened, but that night Eugene moved into a room almost immediately below my own, and we never had to sleep with guards on our doors again.

**Author's Note:**

> The end of this chapter is based off this: https://gleamful-lanterns.tumblr.com/post/189583516650/eugene-cant-stand-being-away-from-rapunzel-can
> 
> Comments are like candy! They make me so, so happy!


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